Improvement in lining billiard-cushions



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEo LOUIs wAeKnn, or BUFFALO, NnwYonK.

,IMPROVEMENT lN LINING BILLIARD-CUSHIONS.

i Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 355i, dated July S,19132.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIs WAOKER, of theother matter,constitntes andforms a billiardcushion7 both elastic and durable, and not liable tobecome untrue and otherwise out of order;.and I do hereby declare thatthc following is a full, clear, and exact description of thecombination,construclion,and Operation of the sam c, referen ee bei nghad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification,in which- Figure 1 isa vertical elevation of a section of the Outsideguard of a billiard-table without its cover or Outsidelning,showiug thedifferent sections and how formed and combined. Fig. 2 is a verticalelevated end view of the same.

A represents the hander rest mold; F, the guard-board; E, the eushlonchair or seat.

B is a preparedpiece o1 india-rubber.

C is a strip of prepared rawhide.

d is thegroove in which the margin of the linings o r coverings arefastened. Y

It is well known that there has not been made an application of anymaterial for surfacing billiard-cushions that-has proved Aentirelysatisfactory. My experience in the manufacture of billiard-tables and inrepairing them has convinced me that thev greatest diffiuculty existedin the want ot' a suitable material for coating or surfacingthe exposedsurface of the cushion. Among the many diculties which I experienced wasthe gradual decrease of the reacting force of the ball; second, theangles became more or less untrue by being marred, broomed,7 indented,die. This was more or less occasioned by the instability and want ofelasticity of the materials used for surfacing the .cushionswsuch asleather, steel,

wood,guttapercha,&e.none of which proved capable of sustaining theeoneussive force of the walls; third, I also have diseoyered that withany material in common use for covering billiard-cushions aslightchangein the temperature or moisture of the atmosphere or in the angle of thesurface could not occur without aieeting its elasticity. v

To make and combine my invention inconstructing the billiardcnshionherein described, first, Imake the chair or seat Of the cushion of anysuitable wood (preferring pine) in the form represented by E, Fig. 2;second, I then make in form, as represented by B, a stri p or bar Ofvulcanized rubber, which is secured to E, as represented` I thenhaveastrip of previously-prepared rawhide, (beets hide prefcrred,) whichhas been thoroughly stretched nearly to the extent of its tension anddried, after which itv is made of an exact thickness and chemicallyprepared and subjected to an immense pressure, by which it becomesextremely solid, hard, and elastic, capable of resisting an indefiniteamount of concussive force for an indefinite time, and is not affectedby any changes of temperature or atmosphere.

The manner of preparing the rawhide is as follows: After the rawhide hasbeen placed in fresh water for several days and perfectly cleaned fromhairs, it is split in'layers of the required thickness. After this the,hide is stretched cna board or on the llloor by means of nails, takingthe utmost care to prevent wrinkles,roughness,or anv inequality.l Whenhalf dry, the hide is hardened by heavy pressure between hot plates ofiron. Thus prepared, this strip of rawhide is thenv secured to thesurface of therubber, as indicated by G, thus .forming au elastic anddurable billiardtable cushion.

d is agroove in which the edge of the lining is secured.

D is a piece Ot' india-rubber used when the seatE is required to bejoined at angles by ruiter-joints and placed between the parts of E,thus compensating for contraction and expansion caused by theatmosphere, which also has a material e'ectupon'the cushions, all ofwhich produces much` irregularity in the surface as well as the requiredangle of the cushion.

After repeated experiments and test trials of materials of variouskindsk'for combining and forming a durable, permanent, and at the sametime an elastic billiard-table cushion which would insure, first, areacting force, being given to the ball by the cushion with accuracy andprecision at all times in all de grecs of temperature and altdifferentstates of the atmosphere; second, a device by which the required anglecould be truly and correctly lma'de'and retained; third, a material bywhich a surface could be formed capable of resisting Y the continuedconeussive force of theballs without becoming marred and untrue,(lamef),

fourth, producing .a surface having lan even- -ness ot' elasticity whichwould cause the ball that it could be so prepared that it would not onlybecome extremely hard, but at thesame timeproduce the requiredelasticity as well as -iiexibility, and I found that after a continueduseof several months theA cushion retained an exact trueness of surface.

Having thus described the nature of my invention, I do not claim anyparticular form or angle'of a billiard-table cushion, nor do I claim`any particular' form of the seat E nor the material of which it ismade; but

What I do claim as my invention,l and desire to secure by 'LettersPatent,l is i The combina-tial! of the covering C, of rawhide preparediu the manner specified, with the billi'ard-cns'hiouB D E d, constructedand y arranged as herein shown and described.- y LOUIS WACKER.

Vlitneeses:

ALBERT ZLEQELE, CHARLES, STRoH.

